Mark Memmott

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Mark Memmott is one of the hosts of NPR's "The Two-Way" news blog.

"The Two-Way," which Memmott helped to launched when he came to NPR in 2009, focuses on breaking news, analysis, and the most compelling stories being reported by NPR News and other news media.

Before joining NPR, Memmott worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today. He focused on a range of coverage from politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media. He's reported from places across the Unites States and the world, including half a dozen trips to Afghanistan in 2002-2003.

During his time at USA Today, Memmott, helped launch and lead three USAToday.com news blogs: "On Deadline;" "The Oval;" and "On Politics," the site's 2008 presidential campaign blog.

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8:40am

Tue December 13, 2011
The Two-Way

Buildings Design Sparks Anger Over 9/11 Similarity

Originally published on Tue December 13, 2011 11:48 am

A Dutch architectural firm says its designers didn't see the resemblance.

But many, many others certainly do think the two buildings — linked by a "cloud" of skybridges — that MVRDV has proposed for a project in Seoul look very much like the haunting images of the World Trade Center's twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, after they were hit by high-jacked passenger planes.

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7:20am

Tue December 13, 2011

7:05am

Tue December 13, 2011
The Two-Way

Happening Now: Update On Search For 'God Particle'

Scientists in Switzerland are this hour reporting on "the status of their searches for the Standard Model Higgs boson" — the so-called "God Particle" that we posted about Monday.

It's thought that the Higgs gives matter mass. The search for it is one of the biggest stories in science.

The event is being webcast here.

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6:45am

Tue December 13, 2011
The Two-Way

Report: Homelessness Among Children Up 38 Percent Since 2007

More than 1.6 million American children were homeless at some point in 2010, the nonprofit National Center on Family Homelessness reports today, adding that the number is about a 38 percent increase from 2007.

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6:15am

Tue December 13, 2011
The Two-Way

Sandusky's Accusers May Testify Today In Hearing About Penn State Scandal

A courtroom in the small town of Bellefonte, Pa., is the center of much attention this morning.

As The Associated Press writes:

"The stunning allegations that a beloved icon of Penn State's football team has secretly been a serial molester who used his charity for children to find and groom new victims will undergo their first legal test Tuesday. ... Prosecutors will try to prove they have enough evidence to advance the case to county court for trial."

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3:05pm

Mon December 12, 2011
The Two-Way

'Tebowing' Is So Hot It's Now A Word

He's the hottest topic in sports and now Denver Broncos quarterback is a word, kind of.

The online Global Language Monitor, which professes to track what's hot in the world of words, announced today that is has declared "tebowing, the act of 'taking a knee' in prayerful reflection" during an athletic activity is now "an English language word."

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11:42am

Mon December 12, 2011
The Two-Way

U.S., Iraqi Leaders Mark 'New Day'

"A war is ending, a new day is upon us," President Obama said this afternoon at a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at which the two leaders are marking the departure of the last U.S. troops after nearly nine years in Iraq.

For his part, Maliki said the two nations' relations "will not end with the departure of the last American soldier ... it has only started."

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10:30am

Mon December 12, 2011
The Two-Way

Lowe's Ignites Controversy By Pulling Ads From 'All-American Muslim'

By deciding to stop advertising during the TLC network's All-American Muslim reality TV show after hearing that some conservatives object to the program, Lowe's Home Improvement is now hearing complaints from others who accuse it of religious bigotry.

California State Sen. Ted Lieu (D), The Associated Press says, may call for a boycott of the home improvement chain.

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9:40am

Mon December 12, 2011
The Two-Way

What A Sour Note: Thieves Target Tubas In Southern California

Credit Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

The high prices they command on the black market and "Southern California's banda music craze" have combined to make tubas a hot property, the Los Angeles Times writes today.

Hot, that is, in the sense that there's been a recent "rash of unsolved tuba thefts at high schools in southeast Los Angeles County."

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9:21am

Mon December 12, 2011
The Two-Way

Supreme Court Will Hear Arguments On Arizona Immigration Law

Arizona's controversial immigration law will indeed be getting a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, it was just announced.

Long expected, the court's decision to weigh in could help settle whether the law — known as SB 1070 for its bill number in the Arizona Senate — encroaches on federal law because, in large part, of its provision that would require the police to determine the immigration status of a person they have detained and whether the suspect is in the country illegally.

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